Friday, 5 July 2013

Approach to Kessock Bridge from Longman Road

It's now a week since the completion of Phase 1 of the Kessock Bridge upgrade.
This appears to be good news for motorists. Unfortunately, it is not so good for cyclists.
At the South end of the Bridge the shared use pedestrian / cycle path remains blocked off.
The sign says "Footpath Closed" so you could be forgiven for thinking it's OK for cyclists.

A little further back there's a break in the barrier to allow pedestrians / cyclists to cross. Although there are traffic lights there is no lights or buttons for pedestrians / cyclists.
The traffic on this side is a bit tricky but there is a frequent gap of about 10 seconds.
On the far side it is regularly stopped for about a minute giving plenty time to get across. A signal would be so much more useful and friendly than the sign:
"High Speed Dual Carriageway CROSS WITH CARE".

Further back, round the corner on Longman Road, we are presented with three objects:
A Diversion sign, an open barrier, and another Footpath Closed sign.
Again, what is a cyclist meant to understand from this?

Inverness and the Highlands benefit a lot from tourists.
Here's a couple from the Hague who'd hired bikes from Happy Go Bikes.
They were heading North on a lovely day but were quite puzzled which route to take.
Let me be clear. They had a map - it was the signs and barriers that confused them.
I gave them directions to the Bridge and also what to expect on the other side.